Poirier and Holloway didn't disappoint.
It looked for a moment that Max was about to get the KO early in the first, but Dustin survived and the show went on.
That was a very good retirement fight for Dustin, maybe it's even better for him that he didn't win as that would probably plant some doubt in his head on whether the decision to retire was premature. It's not a loss that he would be ashamed of anyway.

What's next for Max? Hard to say. He's not going to get a title shot against Topuria (even if, ranking-wise, he's in a good position for that) as they fought fairly recently and it was a one-sided show. He's unlikely to move back down to featherweight to challange Volkanovski, as they already fought 3 times, although who knows, it might not be the worst idea.
I think you would stay at 155 where he still have some good options. He could get a fight with Oliveira, he defeated him once in 2015, so it could be hyped on that. Or he could get Tsarukyan or better yet Dan Hooker for the BMF belt, which is a fight I wouldn't mind seeing.